Carrier Iq

Carrier IQ, whose software was used by carriers and phone manufacturers to collect network data, has settled a class-action lawsuit over violations of consumer privacy rights. Consumers felt that Carrier IQ's tracking was too extensive and invasive. The exact terms of the settlement have so far been undisclosed, and the settlement still needs to be finalized by the court.

It seems as though there was an embarrassment of embarrassments to choose from this year. Apple chose not to release new iPod touch or Apple TV (so far) hardware this year. Granted neither has much competition but Apple's mantra has always been to compete with themselves. Likewise the iPhone 4S didn't get a hardware update even as competing devices have seriously upped the handset game.

Privacy also took a swift, hard roshambo in the rights this year as everything from Apple's poorly coded location recording system to Google, Facebook, and Twitter being forced into decade, or double decade privacy oversight, to lack of disclosure surrounding Carrier IQ making headline. On the flip side, the media earned more than their usual share of fail points for once again never missing a chance to linkbait and headline grab at Apple's expense.

Netflix decided to take one the most successful, most loved brands in modern media and jack up the prices without proper PR, then split the company into Qwikster, then not split the company, then... we got lost. Instead of making streaming more solid and reliable -- and available internationally -- they spun in circles. Twitter likewise decided that poor communications, creating unease and distrust among developers, the #dickbar, and now the #dickapp re-design, and generally putting their user base last is something they're now big enough not to have to care about.

And then there were the patent problems -- Apple and Android makers suing each other, Lodsys suing independent developers, and generally everyone taking the tools of innovation and wielding them for consternation.

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Rene, Georgia and Michael Rose of TUAW discuss a media gone mad -- including ridiculous Siri allegations, crazy Carrier IQ coverage -- and how to protect our privacy, and the privacy of our families, in the digital age. This is Phone Live!

iOS 5 on the iPhone has Carrier IQ-style diagnostic information sharing turned off by default, but as part of the on-device setup process, asks you if you'd be willing to opt-in and share the data with Apple. If you did that, or aren't sure what you did, but now want to make sure you're opted out of anything even remotely Carrier IQ-esque, here's how to do that.

Carrier IQ is software that manufacturers and/or carriers stealthily embed in mobile devices in order to collect everything from location to behavioral (usage) data. How much data they collect, and to what level of granularity, it's hard to tell, as is what they do with it both locally on the device and transmitted back to their servers.